Peter Wang was wearing his grey JROTC uniform with black stripes as he held the door to his study hall open, helping "dozens" of his fellow classmates escape, before he was shot multiple times and killed, according to multiple reports.

Now people are petitioning the White House to bury Wang with full military honours. More than 60,000 people have signed the petition as of midday on Tuesday.

Wang's "selfless and heroic actions have led to the survival of dozens in the area. Wang died a hero, and deserves to be treated as such, and deserves a full honours military burial," the petition reads.

Wang, who dreamed of attending West Point, joined the US Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps upon entering Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as a freshman.

He was reportedly a good marksman, and was set to be promoted the following week to the "A" team of his third period Bravo unit, Angelyse Perez, Wang's 18-year-old commander, told the Herald.

"That kid was the most hilarious thing on the planet," Perez said. "He was always happy and bubbly and smiley."

"He is so brave. He is the person who is genuinely kind to everyone," Wang's 24-year-old cousin, Lin Chen, told the Orlando Sun Sentinel. "He doesn't care about popularity. He always liked to cheer people up. He is like the big brother everyone wished they had."